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October 28, 2025 13 mins

U.S. President Donald Trump has once again refused to rule out running for a third term, telling reporters this week he would love to do it. U.S. Presidents are restricted to a two-term limit, but could Trump change that? Today, we’ll break down what the U.S. Constitution says about presidential terms, the likelihood of anything changing, and how Australia's system compares.

Hosts: Emma Gillespie and Billi FitzSimons
Producer: Orla Maher

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Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Already and this is the daily This is the Daily
ohs oh, now it makes sense.

Speaker 2 (00:14):
Good morning and welcome to the Daily OS. It's Wednesday,
the twenty ninth of October. I'm Emma Gillespie.

Speaker 1 (00:20):
I'm beliefit Simon's.

Speaker 2 (00:22):
US President Donald Trump has once again refused to rule
out running for a third term, telling reporters.

Speaker 3 (00:28):
This week he would love to do it.

Speaker 2 (00:31):
US presidents are restricted to a two term limit.

Speaker 3 (00:34):
But could Trump change that?

Speaker 2 (00:36):
Today we are going to break down what the US
Constitution says about presidential terms, the likelihood of anything changing,
and take a look at how Australia's system compares.

Speaker 1 (00:52):
Emma, this is a conversation that I feel like has
come up a few times in relation to Trump. But
do you want to walk us through why we are
talking bout it today? What has happened this week?

Speaker 3 (01:02):
Yes? So.

Speaker 2 (01:03):
US President Donald Trump was speaking to reporters on his
plane Air Force one, on Monday. He was on his
way to Japan and reporters on board asked him about
the possibility of running for a third term, so that
would be in twenty twenty eight.

Speaker 3 (01:18):
Here is what he said, I would love to do it.
I have my best snubbers. Ever, it's very terrible. I
have my best snubb receipt.

Speaker 1 (01:26):
You read it. Am I not.

Speaker 3 (01:30):
Ruling it out. You'll have to tell me.

Speaker 1 (01:31):
All I can tell you is that we have a
great group of people which stay dout bye.

Speaker 2 (01:37):
They He's talking about the Democrats, and that great group
he described includes Vice President j. D. Vance and the
current Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

Speaker 1 (01:46):
And this isn't the first time that Trump has floated
this idea, right.

Speaker 2 (01:51):
Not at all. In fact, far from the first time.
Trump has actually repeatedly teased this idea of a third term,
even since before he won a second presidential term. So
in twenty eighteen, that was during his first term as president,
he commended Chinese President Jijinping for being a quote president

(02:12):
for life, adding that maybe we'll give that a shot someday.
So this goes all the way back to then. At
a twenty nineteen rally, Trump told students chanting four more
years that they should be saying sixteen more years. And
more recently, he told NBC in April that there are
methods that could allow him to serve again, but he
didn't elaborate any further on what that would look like

(02:35):
he has an online merch site where you can buy
Trump twenty twenty eight hats and T shirts right now.

Speaker 3 (02:40):
Really, that's your prerogative. I don't know that.

Speaker 1 (02:42):
So you can buy Trump twenty twenty eight hats right now.

Speaker 2 (02:45):
Yep, right now, if you go online to his store
and you want to do that. I'm not sure what
the shipping to Australia is like. And finally, Trump's former
White House chief strategist, a guy called Steve Bannon, who
you may remember, he said on a podcast this week
that quote, Trump is going to be president in twenty
eight and people ought to just get accommodated with that.
At the appropriate time, will lay out what the plan is.

(03:08):
But there is a plan, he said.

Speaker 1 (03:11):
Wow, And I think we should explain why it's not
currently possible for Trump actually to run for a third term,
and also acknowledge that it's different here in Australia. You
can be Prime minister for however long you want, or
however long the public wants you to be the leader
of the country. Yes, but in the US it's actually
not legally possible.

Speaker 3 (03:31):
Right now, yeap.

Speaker 2 (03:32):
And that is per the US Constitution, which is very
clear on this there is an amendment in that Constitution,
the twenty second Amendment, which states, and I quote, no
person shall be elected to the office of the President
more than twice. This is an amendment that was formalized
in nineteen fifty one, and that was a few years
after President F. D. Roosevelt won an unprecedented third term

(03:56):
in nineteen forty followed by a fourth term in nineteen
five forty four. But before that, presidents had traditionally served
two terms, and the twenty second Amendment formalized that. It
enshrined that tradition into law. Just a quick note on
the Constitution and its importance or the reason it's so
significant in this case. It's basically the supreme law of

(04:18):
the Land of America. That's how it's described. So this
is a document that acts as the fundamental framework for
the US government the legal system, and also sets out
the guaranteed basic rights and freedoms of the American people.

Speaker 1 (04:32):
We'll be right back with more on today's deep dive,
but first, here is a quick message from today's sponsor. So,
the Constitution explicitly forbids third term presidencies, but are there
any potential loopholes?

Speaker 2 (04:48):
This has been the subject of a lot of scrutiny
and discussion in recent months, and there has been some
conversation about the exact wording. So the amendment says no
person shall be elected to the office more than twice,
but some legal scholars are asking whether there's a distinction
between being elected to the presidency and serving as president.

(05:12):
So I'll explain this through a theoretical scenario. And this
has been floated by some in the US. It's about
whether a two term president could actually become president for
a third term through the office of the vice president. So,
for example, if Trump ran for vice president in twenty
twenty eight, which legally he could, and he was elected

(05:34):
and he was serving with someone like JD. Vance or
Marco Rubio, if something happened to the president, Trump as
VP would then take over. That is how that role functions,
or if the president resigned on day one. So that's
a possible way that it could all play out. Trump
had previously said he was openly considering that option, but

(05:56):
when asked about it this week, he did rule that
plan out.

Speaker 3 (06:00):
He called it quote too cute of an idea.

Speaker 1 (06:03):
And I guess the obvious question is can the Constitution change.
Although if the US Constitution is anything like the Australian Constitution,
I imagine that is a very difficult process.

Speaker 3 (06:16):
Yes, it is a difficult process.

Speaker 2 (06:18):
It's difficult in different ways in the US Wich I'll explain,
But that is the only legitimate path for Trump to
secure a third term, and it would be extremely difficult
because amending the Constitution in the US requires support from
two thirds of the House of Representatives the lower house,
and two thirds of the Senate the upper house.

Speaker 3 (06:38):
So basically you need more than.

Speaker 2 (06:40):
A majority of politicians in both houses to support a
prospective amendment, which is incredibly rare. How rare it is
only twenty seven amendments have been added to the US
Constitution since it was written in seventeen eighty seven. That's
over more than two hundred and thirty years. Twenty seven amendments.

Speaker 1 (07:00):
Wow. So it is different to how it works in
Australia because in Australia you need the public's approval, but
here you need Congress's approval. And just to explain a
little bit further, Republicans don't currently have two thirds control
of the House or the Senate, which is why that
wouldn't be a likely option.

Speaker 2 (07:14):
Exactly, and that's a kind of I suppose democratic protection
in the Constitution that it's not just about the government
of the day making a decision, but a significant majority
of elected officials contributing to that decision.

Speaker 1 (07:26):
And so realistically, is there enough momentum around this idea
for it to happen? I imagine not.

Speaker 3 (07:32):
Not really at this stage.

Speaker 2 (07:34):
But that doesn't mean that there aren't attempts happening within
Congress to secure an amendment to change this. So earlier
this year, a Republican Congressman by the name of Andy
Ogles introduced a resolution that would alter the twenty second
Amendment to allow presidents who serve two non consecutive terms

(07:56):
to run again. So under that plan, hypothetically Try could
complete this second term, he would be ruled out of
the next election, but would be eligible in the one
after that. But a few weeks after Ogles introduced that resolution,
we saw basically a counter resolution introduced by a Democratic
congressman by the name of Daniel Goldman. He introduced a

(08:18):
resolution to reaffirm the House of Representative support for the
twenty second Amendment and reaffirm that it quote prohibits President
Trump from running for president for another term, Goldman said
in a statement, the twenty second Amendment enshrines a fundamental
principle of our democracy. No president can serve for more
than two terms. So there is at the moment significant

(08:43):
political division going by just what these two opposing politicians
are doing and saying.

Speaker 3 (08:49):
And the issue is highly unlikely.

Speaker 2 (08:52):
To move in the coming months or years ahead of
that twenty twenty eight election.

Speaker 1 (08:57):
But it is interesting that it is active conversation happening
right now.

Speaker 3 (09:02):
Very much so.

Speaker 2 (09:02):
And the more that Donald Trump makes comments like he
did this week saying he would love to run again,
you know, things happen in US politics that we never
expected to happen all the time.

Speaker 1 (09:12):
Yeah, and I've mentioned a few times how it is
here in Australia compared to how it is in the US.
Do you want to explain that a little bit more
about how terms work here in Australia.

Speaker 2 (09:23):
Yeah. Absolutely, So our system is completely different. We don't
have term limits on individual leadership roles at all, because
in fact, we don't have the presidential system, so there's
no limit how long someone can serve as prime minister.
The prime minister isn't directly elected by voters. As we know,

(09:44):
you know, they are the leader of the party that
wins the most support, so you know, the leader of
Labor or the leader of the coalition who win the
majority of seats in the House of Reps, that is
who becomes the Prime minister. But you know, as we
have seen, our government terms don't dictate our prime minister terms.
But as long as a leader of a party in

(10:04):
government maintains support, they can stay in that job indefinitely.
Our longest serving PM was Robert Menzies who served for
eighteen years.

Speaker 1 (10:13):
That is a long time.

Speaker 2 (10:14):
Yeah, it is a very long time, especially by today's measure.
And John Howard served for eleven years. So really there's
nothing from stopping that from happening. Again, it's just unusual
that we see that kind of tenure in our two
major parties when it comes to individual leaders.

Speaker 1 (10:31):
One thing that is also different with Australia system is
that our terms for leaders for prime ministers is three
years as opposed to four years in the US. But
I know there's been a conversation about potentially changing that.

Speaker 2 (10:44):
Yes, so our terms are three years, but that's how
long a government governs for, not necessarily how long a
prime minister.

Speaker 3 (10:53):
Leads for yes.

Speaker 2 (10:54):
So both Prime Minister Anthony Albanesi and senior coalition officials
have previously rest support for changing to four year terms.
The argument here is that three years is too short
of a window for governments to really set out long
term policy and to really enact those long term policies. So,

(11:16):
you know, a changing constant election cycle, politicians spend a
year organizing, a year implementing policy, a year campaigning. The
eye is always on the next polling day rather than
you know, the shift in legislation and governing.

Speaker 1 (11:31):
And if that was to change, what would that process
look like for how to change it?

Speaker 2 (11:36):
So here, a change like that would require a referendum,
and as we know, to succeed a proposal needs a
majority of support in a majority of states. That old
chestnut that has proven to be very difficult in Australian history,
as we know. But I actually didn't know this until today.
In nineteen eighty eight, Prime Minister Bob Hawk put a

(11:57):
proposal to change to four year terms. Who a referendum, Surprise, surprise,
it failed.

Speaker 3 (12:03):
I was gonna say, how'd that go?

Speaker 2 (12:05):
It actually performed really badly. Some of the lowest yes
votes in Australia's referendum history. This proposal received overall a
thirty three percent national yes vote, but it did not
achieve a majority in any state.

Speaker 1 (12:21):
I wonder why why were people so opposed to it.

Speaker 3 (12:23):
I don't know.

Speaker 2 (12:24):
I think now that we have the example of four
year terms in the US, it's maybe changed the way
we think. And I guess because we've had a lot
of fluctuation in our politics domestically for the last twenty
odd years. But a recent news poll conducted for The
Australian shows there is about fifty one percent support here
in Australia for four year terms. I wouldn't call that

(12:47):
overwhelming public enthusiasm. And there's also a bit of a
headache that this could cause in the Senate. So Upper
House terms are currently double the length of Lower House terms.
Foreign Minister Pennyonong has argued eight year terms are too long,
so there is a fair bit to it that, you know,
maybe we just can't be bothered to.

Speaker 1 (13:05):
Deal with it fair enough.

Speaker 3 (13:07):
That would be.

Speaker 1 (13:10):
Two very different systems with very different debates going on.
Thank you for breaking that down, Emma, Thanks Billy. That's
all for today's deep dive. We'll be back this afternoon
with the headlines. Until then, have a great day. My
name is Lily Maddon and I'm a proud Arunda Bungelung
Caalcuttin woman from Gadigol Country. The Daily oz acknowledges that

(13:34):
this podcast is recorded on the lands of the Gadighl
people and pays respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Island and nations. We pay our respects to the first
peoples of these countries, both past and present.
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